A Fault in Her Foundations
by Sunshine and Metaphors
Summary: Evan is living life to the full with her brother at her side and an interesting, attractive detective living underneath her, nothing can stop her. Until something does. A brutal murder turns Evan's life upside down. Struggling to remember the specifics of her past that she needs so desperately in her present, Evan and Sherlock set off down a path that there is no turning back from.
1. Let Me In

**Let me in - Grouplove**

* * *

He had thought of this day resentfully for as long as he knew it was coming. He knew that today would bring constant disturbances and the unreasonable expectation of assistance in the movement of furniture and boxe as well as unpacking the unknown girls belongings and perhaps,worst of all, he may be asked to help clean. Perhaps worse still was the fact that he would be expected to be pleasant to what would presumable be an extraordinarily ordinary girl. How boring. How irksome these obligations would be when all he wanted to do that day was observe the rate of decomposition in relation to microwaves.

But alas, there would be no decomposition rating today. Instead it would be the day that Mrs. Hudson's great niece was moving into 221C, the flat above his. Mrs. Hudson had spoken very little of anything that wasn't at least loosely connected to the topic of her great niece, Evan, after she had asked if she could rent the flat above after she finished her studies at the University of Limerick. Mrs. Hudson had felt the need to impart all of her knowledge on the matter of her niece onto John and Sherlock, so the two of them were quite frankly sick to the back teeth of her before she had even arrived.

Sherlock had just gotten an almost perfect sample of tongue cells onto his new slide for observation when Evan made a rather rackety arrival. She struggled to get her key in the lock and the door was stiff due to the seasonally warm weather so she bumped the door lightly with her hip in an effort to shift the heavy wooden door.

When it still wouldn't quite budge she bumped her hip against the door a little harder and came stumbling through the doorway, falling and spilling a box that sounded as if it contained books onto the floor of their communal hallway before exclaiming "Ugh shit fucking fuck that bloody door. Lyn, come and help me with this shit would you? I've had enough of this pissing moving day bollocks already and it's not even 10 AM".

"Well she sound _lovely_ " John said sarcastically "Come on, let's give her a hand" Sherlock shot John a look of incredulity but got up from his microscope anyway.

The first thing a person would notice about Evan was her hair. It was unruly to say the least and she couldn't do much of anything with it because of it's natural curl and frizz, it seemed to almost envelop her head. Add to the sheer size of her hair the frankly alarming shade of green that she had dyed it and it was undeniably her most striking attribute. But that is not what Sherlock noticed, he noticed her nail polish first.

A rather awkward shade of blue that had been quickly applied over a chipped red coat; clearly she wanted to impress, probably at the bar she went to last night, but not so much that she put a lot of thought into her obviously last minute manicure. An Ex. She wanted to appear as if she was still the stable young woman she was when he knew her, but not as if she cared all that much. _Women truly are strange creatures_ Sherlock thought to himself.

The next thing he noticed was her books, after a quick glance over the books that were now strewn on the floor, Sherlock reached the bottom of the stairs and asked "Politics, sociology or German?" he asked her.

"What?" She asked, looking at him as though he was speaking swahili.

"Politics, sociology or German?" he repeated, holding her gaze "which did you do your degree in?" he added.

"All three" she replied with a tone of pride.

"Hmm, I see" he replied absent-mindedly, taking the box from her and replacing the books back inside of it. "Um, thanks" she said in an uncertain tone, and went out to collect another box from the boot of her brothers car as he brother entered behind her carrying a chest of drawers. John's eyes widened momentarily at the feat of strength. "Alright mate, you need a had?" he asked descending the final few stairs. Lyn gave him a quick once over and politely declined. Sherlock was mildly amused by John's need to display his masculinity.

"So I'm Evan, this is my brother Lyn" this was met with a quizzical look from John "Yeah yeah I know I have a guys name he has a girls name, they thought it was fun and original. It's not. It's shit. Is Eileen about?"

"Uhh, Eileen? Who's Eileen" asked John

"That's me" said Mrs. Hudson as she entered the hallway that was becoming rapidly overcrowded "Oh it's so lovely to see you both!" She said pulling her great niece and nephew into a, deceptively strong, hug "The hallway's getting rather crowded isn't it? I'll open up" she said as lead the four of them up the two flights of stairs and slipped the key into the lock, opening the door to 221C. They all filed into the flat, only John empty handed.

Sherlock and Evan put down their boxes in the centre of the room and Lyn walked through to the bedroom and put down the chest of drawers. "I'll go and get you wardrobe Ev" he said, kissing Evan's forehead lightly before descending the stairs back to his car. Mrs. Hudson made a fuss of showing Evan around the flat and explaining the boiler worked and asking, in the kindest way possible, just what had possessed her to dye her hair that colour. John look at Sherlock who was visibly uncomfortable.

"John, it really doesn't look as though were needed"

"Well we'll wait around a bit to see-" Sherlock had left the room before he could finish his sentence. John let out an exasperated sigh and moved out of Lyn's way as he came in with the wardrobe. He followed him into the bedroom and Evan was already pinning polaroid photos onto huge lengths of fairy lights with little wooden pegs whilst having a conversation with Mrs. Hudson. "Anything I can do for anyone?" asked John, a little sheepishly.

"I, uh,think were all good thank you" Evan said absent mindedly. "Let your friend know as well, I'm sure he has better things to do today"

"Oh okay, well don't hesitate to ask if you need anything"

"Okay, I won't" she said smiled, still putting photos up.

Around four hours and twenty three minutes later Mrs. Hudson bustled into 221B and told the boys that they had to come and have dinner at Evan's at 6, to which Sherlock replied "Tea" without looking up from his microscope.

"Well, yes" said, a little confused "You can call it tea if you like dear" earning rolled eyes from Sherlock. "No. Tea. A cup of. Now please" He said still looking at his cell sample.

"Alright, just this once but I'm not your housekeeper! Do you want one as well Jo- OHH good _lord_ Sherlock there's a tongue on the counter!" She shrieked just as Evan entered the flat.

"There's a tongue? Ergh why is there a tongue in the kitchen? You should at least put it in the fridge or it will go green or something... is it an animal tongue?" she asked, looking at Sherlock before turning back to the tongue, picking it up and studying it intently. "Naah not the right size, this looks human, but then neither of you are _that_ fucked up." she paused in thought for a moment "Did you get it from a morgue?" Sherlock was taken aback by this, that was almost deduction! And she wasn't particularly perturbed by his experiment. Perhaps they would get on better than he had thought.

"How can you be sure it's human?" he asked, his interest was genuine.

"Oh Mr. Holmes, I have had plenty of experience with that part of the human body, I know it when I see it" she said casually, her voice thick and sultry, earning raised eyebrows from John. She put the kettle on and pulled down two mugs from a shelf. "Am I wrong?" she asked, still not looking at Sherlock.

"No, no you're right on the money actually, how do you know my name?" he didn't remember having introduced himself.

"Your post is out on the kitchen table" she said as she poured a little milk into the mugs. "And how do you know that's my name and not my flatmate's?" he asked, still studying a slide on his microscope.

"Well he doesn't really look like a Sherlock to me, much more of a John" she walked over to Sherlock and put his mug of tea down next to his microscope, then walked over to John and handed him his.

"Right well me and Lyn have got shit to do so I'll leave y'all to it, thanks for your help Eileen if you need anything give us a shout, I'm only upstairs" and with that she was gone, as quickly as she came.

"Oh she's really lovely, her brother too" Mrs Hudson said "shame about the parents though.." she drifted off into deep thought before quickly rousing herself from it "Anyway, you've got an hour before I expect you at Evan's, see you later boys" and she trotted upstairs to join her niece and nephew.

"What do you think of her then Sherlock?" John said over his newspaper.

"She's bright, not at all what I expected and she doesn't really care about how others perceive her. She's older that she seems though, she interests me" he said, not looking up from his microscope.

" Well how old is she?" asked John

"How old would you think she is John"

"Well about 22 I suppose"

"Oh John, you really don't notice do you" he said, more as a statement than a question

"Well she's just back from university" he retorted

"Yes, after completing three degrees, she's 27"

"Oh, right" John replied "Well bloody hell I'd never have thought it"

"What do you think of her?" he looked up from his microscope this time, his interest piqued.

"I think she'll fit in well. If she can put up with a human tongue in the kitchen then she's perfect really" he said, laughing at his own joke.

* * *

Just before 6 o'clock Evan heard a knock at her door and padded over to answer it to be greeted by the faces on John and Sherlock, "Um, do you need something?" she asked wearing a perplexed expression.

"Well Mrs. Hudson told us to be here for six, so, we just came up... because it's six" John wandered off in his speech, probably because he was distracted by Evan's appearance. Her green hair was pulled up into a messy bun high on the top of her head, she had a toothbrush in her hand and was clad in a very thin, revealing silk robe. "Oh shit" she exclaimed, her eyes wide "Is it that time already? I thought it was earlier than that. Well anyway come in and make yourselves at home. Lun and Ei are in the kitchen I think. I need a shower, I feel fucking nasty after moving all my crap today - I wont be long though I don't need to shave or anything" and with that she disappeared into the bathroom, dropping her robe ever so slightly before the door was closed. Poor Sherlock didn't know where to look, or where not to.

The dinner went well, all things considered. Everyone got to know each other a bit better and, though Sherlock's appetite was quelled, his thirst wasn't; his thirst to understand Evan. The details of her were easy enough to read but her personality, her thoughts and her past was an entirely different ball game. He didn't know what is was about her, maybe what you saw really was what you were getting with her, but he couldn't shake the thought that all wasn't as it seemed with Evan. And he'd be right.

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 **Hi Guys! What do we think then? Any good? I uploaded this same story last year but deleted it a few months ago so I could improve it. Please leave a review, I appreciate constructive criticism!**

 **\- Sunshine and Metaphors**


	2. Pearly Dew Drops Drop

**Pearly Dew Drops Drop - The Cocteau Twins**

* * *

The occupants of 221 Baker Street were rather rudely awoken on early on Saturday morning to the sound of 'Come on Eileen' being blasted from flat 221C. Sherlock was having none of that, it was a rather distracting commotion and quick as a flash he was upstairs and hammering on Evan's door. It took her about a minute to turn her music off and open the door to him. "Alright Sherlock, what can I do you for?" she more shouted that said it.

"You can keep it down, I was asleep" he replied coldly. She doesn't have to know that he was lying

"Oh, is it that loud?" She asked apologetically "It seemed fine to me- oh fuck me I haven't got my hearing aid in, do you want a cuppa now that you're here" and without waiting for a reply she pulled him inside and slammed the door behind him.

She walked and put the kettle on before popping into her bedroom and returning with her hearing aids, she popped them in without any trouble. "Why do you have a hearing aid at 27, illness or accident. And if you're mostly deaf how did you know I was knocking at the door over that cacophony?" he asked as he dubiously followed her into the kitchen.

"I was in a car accident when I was about seven, there was a massive pile up and our car, like, exploded. I lost most of my hearing and got this epic scar on my thigh look. It's really fun to tell people it's a scar from a shark attack" she giggled "Oh and I knew you were there because the door was moving, you were knocking so damn hard" she said as she pulled up her robe to reveal the puckered scar left behind "Oh, and my mum died, in the accident " she added, almost as an after thought.

"I'm, uh, sorry about that" he was quite unsure if that was the appropriate thing to say...

"No you're not. And it's okay, no need to apologise, it's not like you killed her. Here's your tea"

As they sipped, an awkward silence enveloped the air Sherlock was just making his excuses to go when something popped into Evan's head "Wait, how do you know I'm 27? people always assume I'm a lot younger" she asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"Well you just finished doing three degrees, each degree at three years long since you started university at 18 makes you 27"

"Hmm, fairy nuff I suppose"

"Why did you do three degrees? What purpose could that possibly serve" He asked, setting his mug down.

"I'm just really indecisive" she explained "I wanted to carry on studying them all so I thought why not? It's not like I've got the job of my dreams to rush for" He thought on this a moment and almost commented, but thought better of it.

"Yes well I really must leave, I need to record the tongue's progress"

"Ergh" she winced "Okay, have fun"

"Oh I shall, Evan" and he was gone.

Up in 221B John was awake and gave Sherlock a puzzled look and asked where he had been. " I was down at Evan's" he replied as he retrieved the tongue from the fridge and began scribbling notes in a note pad. "Oh right, why was that then" John asked, you could hear his smile in his voice. "She was playing music awfully loudly this morning, turns out she'd forgotten to put her hearing aids in, and then she made me drink tea."

"She's 27 why does she need a hearing aid?" replied John doubtfully.

"When she was 7 she was in a massive car accident, the engine exploded and she lost most of her hearing, her mother was killed and she got a rather nasty scar at the top of her left thigh" John made an exasperated noise.

"And how could you possibly have deduced that Sherlock?" he retorted.

"Oh, I didn't, she told me"

"Oh" he said sheepishly "Oh right okay"

* * *

Just as Sherlock was about to leave to blow off some steam after John had royally pissed him off, he caught the scent of Marijuana wafting from Evan's flat. The prospect of drugs and Evan stuck his as amusing and far more interesting than the streets pf London at that moment in time.

He pushed open her front door and found her lying on the floor of her living room in little more than a silky blue night shirt, smoking a 'special cigarette' and listening to the Cocteau Twins. "Want some?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Oh, yes" he replied, shrugging off his coat and scarf and joining her on the floor. "It's been years since I've done this" he said wistfully.

"Oh,fuck, you're not a recovering addict are you?"

"No, no. Not a marijuana addict anyway" he smiled, taking a drag and relaxing almost immediately.

"But, I thought you guys were crime fighters, or is this kind of crime acceptable to you?"

"I don't fight crime, I'm not PC Plod. I play the game, I solve the case, I see justice done"

Evan breaks into fits of giggles "Bloody Hell Sherlock, you don't half sound a twat" she wheezes.

"Well, I just mean that John and I aren't exactly what one might view as the conventional crime fighting people" He rambled.

"Oh right, fairy nuff then"

"Say that again" he said with a slight scowl

"Oh right, fairy nuff then"

"You said 'fairy nuff' not 'fair enough', why is that?"

"Because it sound better"

"Oh" he said, still not completely sold on this explanation, then after a while he added "Why do you listen this music?", though of course our Sherlock already knew.

"Because it's so much better that the utter shit that is produced nowadays. Like what is the actual point of Skrillex? He just presses buttons and says a like three words and that makes him internationally famous? Like, why? He doesn't actually make music, you know?"

"Um, no, actually. I don't" and they both giggled.

After a couple more of Evan's 'cigarettes' and a pitcher of margaritas, things got a little funny down in 221C. Evan let Sherlock style her hair which he then though it would be great fun to decorate with teabags. They built a fort out of Sherlock's coat and the back of Evan's sofa which proceeded to fall down within seconds of its erection which, of course, prompted the two of them to giggle like schoolgirls at which point a concerned John dubiously entered the flat "What he bloody hell are you two doing? Ha-Have you been doing drugs? Sherlock, what will Mycroft say?" The pair stared and him, trying to suppress their laughter. "Good god I don't know what to do with you two! You're acting like teenagers" he shouted as he left abruptly. Which of course only made them laugh harder.

"Oh Shirley, you've got such a sexy laugh, it's all, like ...deep and stuff" she said whilst stroking Sherlock's mane of curly hair.

"Well that's because of the difference between male and female vocal cords. It's like the difference between a cello and a violin, compared with a violin a cello has much longer, thicker strings that vibrate slowly to produce a low frequency and it has a larger interior so it produces a more resonant sound" and they both laughed lightly.

"Oh, really? and I just thought you were sexy" she giggled. "Well you do know a shitload of shit Sherlock"

"Well yes, yes I do-" his sentence was cut short by the soft pressure of Evan's lips on his. Obviously Sherlock had been kissed before, he wasn't a complete monk, but Evan was a really really good kisser. Really good, and it wasn't like the sloppy, nervous kisses that he had shared with boring girls at university, he actually found himself enjoying the kiss.

After a minute or so Evan broke away. "That was...fun... we should do it again some time" was all she managed to get out before she fell asleep. Sherlock sobered slightly and, being the gentleman he is, picked her up gently and put her in her bed before returned to his own.

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 **This was so much fun to write! What do you think? Pleeeeaaaase review!**

 **\- Sunshine and Metaphors**


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